10 business processes you need to make your life easier

In the dynamic landscape of business, the right processes are your secret weapon for transforming chaos into seamless efficiency. Whether you're a seasoned entrepreneur or just starting your journey, implementing these 10 processes can pave the way for a smoother, more organized, and ultimately more successful business venture.

Processes are the holy grail of scaling your business!

Here’s why.

POV: You have to onboard a new client and only YOU know how to do that. So, you start it but stop half way because you have two time sensitive deadlines. Oh wait, you also need to set up two discovery calls that have been sitting in your inbox for three days. You then realize that you have to prepare for your 11am Zoom call, and that you have another one at 1pm. Don’t forget you need to create your content for social media and post it. It will need a graphic too. Finally, you need to make sure you are done by 4pm because you have an appointment at 5pm and it takes you 45 minutes to get there. 

Sound familiar?

Let me ask you this: if that is a normal day, then how are you going to scale your business?

There is not enough time in the day for that kind of system. You are always starting from scratch while trying to remember all the moving parts. Things get missed and, instead of backtracking, you will have to start all over again resulting in repeated work. Whether you work solo or have a team, putting a process in place, with every documented step, will allow you to be more productive, improve efficiency, and ensure consistency. 

You cannot be in all the places at the same time, no matter how much you try to convince yourself of that. Running your business in a way that requires you and you alone to do this means that you will always be unable to grow. Having processes in place allows you to make more of you. Whether that means having automations in place or delegating to a team, processes ensure that you streamline for success and have room for growth.

Here are 10 processes you should have in your business to make your life easier:

1. Potential client vetting: 

Vetting a potential client refers to the process of thoroughly evaluating and assessing a prospective client before deciding to engage in a business relationship with them. This is a crucial step in various industries, especially professional services, where the nature of the client relationship can significantly impact the success of the business. The vetting process aims to ensure that the client aligns with the values, goals, and working standards of the service provider. Not all potential clients are the right fit.

Do you have a process to make sure that you are thoroughly assessing all potential clients?

2. Client onboarding process:

Onboarding a client can be time-consuming, for you and the new client! There are so many aspects to it, and you want to make sure you have all your information in one place where nothing is missed and your client has a good experience. It helps manage expectations, reduces misunderstandings, and sets the stage for a successful and long-lasting partnership.

Your process should include all details you will need throughout the working relationship: business details, communication preferences, expectations, how you will work together.

3. Team onboarding process:

Much like client onboarding, you should have a seamless employee onboarding process that includes everything required when a new employee starts to work for your company. This includes contractor/employment agreement, company email and app access, expectations, best practices, expectations, communication standards and training. 

Using a process for this will make onboarding less stressful and more productive for you and your new team member, getting your new hire up and going sooner.

4. Accounts Payable:

Your company has bills to pay (sadly this part of business will never go away). 

Every single dollar your company spends, has to be tracked. If you have paid it already or if you still have to pay it – it needs to be documented. 

If it hasn’t been paid you have to remember who you owe money to, how much and when it is due. If it has been paid it has to be tracked and properly categorized so you are ready at tax time. We highly recommend a bookkeeper to help with this but even with a bookkeeper you need to make sure you have processes in place to track receipts, update your records, pay your bills and manage cash flow.

5. Accounts Receivable:

The best part about business? The MONNNEEEYYY! You are in business to make money, but it is not that simple. People don’t just throw money at you (they should.. I know!) your company needs the revenue to run. You have to invoice, send reminders, and you guessed it – track when the invoice has been paid.

This one may seem like a no-brainer but you would be surprised how it easily slips through the cracks when there is no process in place.

6. Content creation: 

If you post on social media or create any content at all you know content creation takes time and you often need to be in the mood to make it happen (well, I do at least!). You might be thinking “what? You can’t organize creativity!” but you are WRONG.  

Content creation processes can help make all the parts before and after the actual creating easier: topics, graphics, hashtags, scheduling… the other stuff! Establishing how often you post, what kind of content you post, what pattern of graphics you want to post, what tool you use, how far in advance you want to schedule it can streamline the process.

7. Non-client-specific business processes: 

I have already mentioned some non-client-specific processes (content, AR, AP, onboarding) but anything else inside your business that is not client focused – should have a process. Inventory, recruiting, sales, marketing, supply chain, performance management, compliance, IT… There is way too much going on in nearly any business for you to just remember all the things all the time.

Some processes are not used frequently, but that does not mean there shouldn’t be a process for it.

8. Client tasks:

Any task you do for a client or multiple clients… you guessed it… Process! While every client is different, when you do the same thing over and over there are steps that are the same no matter what the task is: email management, calendar management, social media management, workshops, training, newsletters, bookkeeping. Make sure you have the general steps outlined for each key service you offer and then make client specific instructions where needed. 

A generic process will help make sure you do the steps in order. The client specific details are usually what specifics are done at each step and very rarely is the step skipped entirely.

9. Client communication:

This may seem like a weird one. A process to communicate? But yes! It is important. There are so many steps behind the scenes – not just the first message they send. 

You need to establish how your clients can reach you, when you will respond, how do you respond (email templates?) and then how that communication gets actioned on your end. Does it get delegated? Are you going to do it? Everything that goes into responding to a client, should be part of the process to make sure nothing is missed, your clients are happy and feel comfortable and supported even without a completely unmanageable (for you) 24/7 on-call service.

10. Team communication:

Same goes for your team. Is something on fire that needs immediate attention? Can it wait until next week’s meeting? Is it a quick question that needs to be answered before a task can be completed? As a business owner there is a lot happening all the time and making sure your team knows where to put things, and when is essential to your sanity. 

When it is a free for all and anyone can message anywhere, you are going to start ignoring all messages and missing a lot of things.

Final thought to take home

In order to scale your business, you have to make things EASIER so you can save time, improve efficiency and consistency.  The fastest way to do that is to establish clear processes. They take the thinking out of your work (in a good way). 

Save the mental capacity you’ve been wasting on the day-to-day tasks and follow a process instead: so, you can make room for bigger and better things!

Work smarter, not harder.